"I heard Phil Weinstein deliver this lecture a few months ago, and I am still haunted and inspired by his refreshing and illuminating take on why fiction matters. I hope this lecture will elevate the discourse of the conference beyond the “how” and “what” of writing fiction and into the “why.”Whether writing or reading, our worlds of fiction are magical and meaningful.Lisa My son is in love, head over heels, with reading. He just turned seven and he carries a book wherever he goes; I just found a Junie B, that cheeky, lovely girl, in his hockey bag. In the mornings, Evan and I are up by six. Side by side, we sit on the couch, our dalma-chien, happily cozied between us. I tap on my laptop, Evan reads. Reality - school for him, work for me - can wait an hour while we live, for a while, in different worlds. What happy places to be. How joyful to watch him discover the magic between the covers of a book.We are readers. We are writers. We are so very lucky.

AmyThis week I closed my office door, ignored the phone, and continued revising my manuscript. Sorry, I know it sounds boring, but I'm having much more fun than I expected. Hopefully the weather will lift and The Group will be able to make it to Grub Gone Silly tonight; I love Steve Almond. If you're there, please say "hello."

HannahThis week I wrote corporate materials. Nothing literary to report, so I thought. Yet as I prepared my son's lunch this morning, daydreaming -- do I twist a character this way, or that? -- I realized I have been gelling. In the shower, waiting for email, in the car, while I cook. I held this woman at bay for months, and now she seeps in, becomes more solid. Also, if you're going to miss Grub Gone Silly, visit Leslie Talbot's Singular Existence to put a Friday smile on your face!

LynneI admit it; I occasionally google my book title to see if anyone is writing about it. This week there were two articles about me and my book; one in the Nashua Telegraph, and one in the Christian Science Monitor. Early buzz is a very good thing. The best surprise of all is that I found out you can pre-order my book from Amazon. My page there is bare bones, but it's there. Each step along the way helps to affirm, it's really going to happen.

Therese, please do come. The conference is wonderful, and we'd love to meet you in person, too. Thank you for the well wishes. On this up and down publishing journey, this week would be classified as an up!

Lynne Griffin

Lynne’s debut novel, LIFE WITHOUT SUMMER will be published by St Martin's Press in April 2009. She is also the author of NEGOTIATION GENERATION Penguin, 2007.

Amy MacKinnon

Amy is the author of TETHERED (Shaye Areheart Books/Random House, August 2008). Her essays have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, and on NPR.

Lisa Marnell has been offered agent representation for her first novel. She is currently editing her second Young Adult novel.

Hannah Roveto is a national public relations and marketing expert, with freelance journalism credits that include The Boston Globe. She has completed revisions to her first novel and is seeking agent representation.